Villagers in Odisha allege forged signatures and thumbprints were used to falsely document consent for a bauxite mine operated by an Adani subsidiary, with over 60 names unaccounted for and several belonging to people who died years ago.
01Summary
- 01Raghunath Khara, a shopkeeper from Balda village, says his thumb impression on a consent form was fake as he always signs in English.
- 02The mine is being developed by Kalinga Alumina Limited, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, owned by Gautam Adani.
- 03Photographs from the October 9 village council meetings show about 100 people present, far below the 50 percent quorum required.
- 04Villagers claim signatures of fictitious persons, deceased individuals, and signatures from unrelated meetings were pasted onto the resolution documents.
- 05Al Jazeera could not trace at least 67 persons named as signatories and found at least three deceased persons represented in the Bannur resolution.
02Why it matters
This matter concerns the integrity of land rights for Indigenous tribal communities in India, who risk losing sacred forest land and livelihoods to a mining project based on allegedly fraudulent consent.
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